Finger ring



Jun: 21,1938. H. G. JOYCE I 7 2,121,201

FI'NGER RING Filed May 1a, 1937 INVENTOR.

gu ayte A TTORNEYS.

Patented June 21, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FINGER RING I HenryG. Joyce, Providence, R. I. Application May 18, 1937, Serial No. 143,331

This invention relates to a ring; and has for one of its objects theprovision of a ring, the exposed or obverse surface: of which will begold or some precious material, while the hidden portion between thefingers and on the inside of the hand will be of some other lessexpensive material.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a ring formed of twodifferent metals with the more expensive metal exposed along the top orcenter of the shank of the ring backed up by the lesser expensive metal,while the metal at the joint of the shank of the ring is all one solidpiece, so that one in fitting the ring may cut out a piece and solderthe ends together without danger of lifting the superimposed portion ofthe more expensive metal which might occur were the two metals carriedthroughout the length of the shank of the ring.

Another object of the invention relating to the method by which the ringis produced, is to soformthe parts of the ring that the same tools maybe utilized for making this ring of two different metals as were usedfor making the ring of a. solid piece of metal whereby one set of toolsmay be used to provide rings of diiferent quality and appearancecharacteristics.

Another object of theinvention is to provide a very heavy ring with goldexposed and yet one which willnot crush, which sometimes occurs whenthe. person wearing the ring does heavy work and the ring is made oflighterand of more precious stock.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the ring which is formed in accordancewith this invention;

Fig. 2 is a blank of the ring shank cut from sheet stock;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view after a recessing operation has beenperformed in the shank;

Fig. 4 is a central sectional view of the structure of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the material which is inserted into therecess;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 4 showing the material assoldered into the recess;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of the shank of the ring after it has beenstruck in' dies to shape it as desired;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the ring with the ends of the shanksoldered together;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the ring as mounted in positiononthe finger and illustrating. the portion of the ring exposed when worn.

In the formation of finger rings trimmings of old have sometimes beensoldered onto the head or top of the ring. At other times plating mayhave occurred. In the former case where the gold trimmings are solderedon the ring does not have the appearance of an all-over gold ring, .andin the latter case many objections occur due to expense ordifficultiesin manufacture and sometimes at the time of changing the size of thering theplating will start to lift at the solder. joint; and in order toavoid these difficulties, I have provided a recess in the blanked-outshank portion of the ring and soldered in a thin plate of gold whichwill be of substantially the thickness of the recess formed. The shankthus prepared is then of the same thickness and has the same quantity ofmaterial as was before present andmay be utilized in the same tools aswere used for providing rings of solid all one piece stock, and yet whenthe top is drawn up there will be provided an outer gold layer of theextent desired depending upon the length of the recess and the fillingtherein which will be the exposed portion of the ring, while the endportions are of a solid stock so that if desired the jeweler in fittingthe ring may cut out a piece and solder the ends together without fearor danger of the plate which forms the top of the ring lifting orbreaking away from the shank or support portion which is of a lessexpensive metal. Gold rings have often been made of rather thin stockbecause of the expense of the metal, and by this method the gold ringsmay have a reinforcement which will better support them for harder useand an allover heavier construction may be provided without materiallyincreasing the expense; and the following is a, more detaileddescription of. the present embodiment of this invention, illustratingthe preferred means by which these advantageous results may beaccomplished:

With reference to the drawing, Ill designates the ring shank as cut fromsheet stock of substantially uniform thickness which is the firstoperation in the formation of, the ring. This blank has arr enlargedcentral portion 12 with side and end portions I3 at either side thereof.The next step in the operation is to provide a recess 14 in the topportion so that this stock of the top portion I5 is thinner than theendportions I3 of the shank.

There is separately cut from sheet stock of a more expensive materialsuch, for instance, as gold, a plate l6 which will be of the shape ofthe recess [4 which is formed in the shank. This plate I6 is thensoldered into the recess as at I! and is of a thickness which, whensoldered in position, as shown in Fig. 6, will have its outer surface l8flush with the outer surface IQ of the end portions of the shank of thering so that in effect there hasbeen a plate I6 substituted for aremoved top portion of the ring which has heretofore been made of onesolid sheet of material of uniform thickness and integral through-- out.By the formation of a shank in this manner the same volume of stock ispresent and the shank may be placed in the usual dies used for making uprings and may be struck in these dies in the manner heretofore used"for-forming up the ring.

After the blank is formed with the soldered-in plate, .as shown in Fig.6, it is struckin matched dies so as to shape up the shank in desiredformation, such .as shown in Fig. 7, where the top portion, nowdesignated 20, has portions raised in relief as at 21 to provide thedesired ornamentation and is formed with an opening 22 with gemsupporting lips 23 as well as with an are 24 for fitting about thefinger. This formation by this striking and cutting process is thatusually performed upon the ring. The recessed portion and gold insert Hiis of such a length that the gold coatingor covering will extendsubstantially to a notch 25 which is provided for ornamental purposes ateither side and also serves as a distinct line of contrast between thegold coating 26 and the supporting portion 21 of the less expensivematerial which is beneath this coating. After the ring is struck up, asshown in Fig. '7, it is bent into .circularform, .as shown in Fig. 8,and the .ends 28 and 2.9 of the shank are soldered together to form thejoint 30. These end portions, as will be observed from 8, are of onesolid material as the ends of the gold covering 26 stop at the points25, which is a substantial distance from these end portions 28 and 29.Thus, in soldering together the joint 30 there is no danger of the goldcoating 26 lifting from the material of lesser value which isdetrimental and annoying and sometimes occurs when the retailer iscutting out a piece of the .ring in order that it may be made smaller tofit some individual who has purchased the same.

The gold coating 26 extends suificiently along either side so that whenthe ring is worn upon the finger 3|, as shown in Fig. 9, the adjacentfingers 32 and 33 cover the juncture of the gold coating with the lesserexpensive material, while the joint portion is on the inner part of thehand and is not readily observed.

By providing a ring of this structure the outer gold coating is presentto provide the desired attractive appearance for the ring, while thelesser expensive material such as silver, may be used to make up theremainder of the ring and is hidden from view. This structure furthergives support to a ring, enabling a gold surface ring to stand up undermore abuse than a ring which is formed of solid gold and made thin inorder to lessen the expense of the same.

A further advantage is in the soldering of the joint which will enablethose less skilled to solder the joint without danger of a plating whichmight extend along the entire surface of the ring, from lifting, whichis annoying and which requires great skill in manipulation, while addingto the expense of material employed. The inexpensiveness of the ring maybe readily apparent.

The foregoing description is directed towards the method andconstruction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that Ireserve the privilege of resorting to all the equivalent changes towhich the construction and method are susceptible, the invention beingdefined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A finger ring comprising a shank with a top portion, said top portionhaving an inset on its outer face of a more precious metal terminatingat points a sufficient distance from the mid-portion of the top toextend approximately semicircumferentially of the completed ring,whereby the base metal portion is covered by adjacent fingers.

2. A finger ring comprising a shank with a top portion, said top portionhaving an inset in its outer face of a more precious material whichtogether with the thickness of the material of the top portion issubstantially equal to the remainder of the shank and terminating atpoints a sufiicient distance from the mid-portion of the top to extendapproximately semi-circumferentially of the completed ring, saiddifierent materials being of the same relief contour on their outerportions.

HENRY G. JOYCE.

